This glorious relic from a bygone era stands tall as a reminder of the power and prowess of the once mighty, Philadelphia-based Sporting Life, “The Paper that Made Base Ball Poplular.” The publication was founded and edited by Francis Richter, a former amateur player whose experience in the game provided him with a “rich supply of insight into the game and players’ lives.” In 1883 Richter founded the Sporting Life, a weekly magazine devoted to coverage of all sports, with an emphasis on baseball. Richter hired correspondents from around the country. He was the first editor of the journal, which became the mouthpiece of baseball and a great force in the national pastime. Within a year circulation had grown to 20,000, and by 1886 it was at 40,000. Initially each issue had 16 pages and sold for ten cents.By the end of the first quarter of the twentieth century, Richter had acquired a reputation as one of baseball’s most influential personalities. In fact, he had acquired so much renown that in 1907 the National League offered him the presidency of the league. Richter declined the offer, wanting instead to promote baseball “by lifting the game up to the heights” of a national pastime.While Sporting Life issued a number of individual cards and cabinets, its M110 issue in 1911 is of particular interest to collectors. The oversized prints were pastel tinted to try to keep pace with American Tobacco’s prized Turkey Red series, although the Sporting Life series is decidedly more scarce and contains images of only six players, Frank Chance, Hal Chase, Napolean Lajoie, Christy Mathewson, Honus Wagner and the subject offered here, the immortal Tyrus Raymond Cobb.Only 25 examples of Cobb’s Sporting Life cabinet have crossed the grading tables at PSA and SGC combined, making it one of the true treasures of the hobby.Delicately colored, using muted tones and subtle highlights, the artistic acumen behind Sporting Life’s issue, in many ways, surpasses some of the more primitive works in the T3 Turkey Red set.Heavily retouched to give the game a pastoral feel, Cobb appears in a ethereal field of mossy grass backed by a haze of gray. No stands. No jeering fans. Not even a catcher, just a faint shadow from an umpire encroaching upon Cobb, who is intently focused on a faraway pitcher on a mound far away.This cabinet is far from perfect; however, we feel it should grade above a PSA 2.5 as well. There are some noticeable chips along the cabinet’s edges and signs of handling at the corners, but to the naked eye, this card appears massively undergraded. Which can only mean one thing . . . you have one more reason to bid.

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